Former ABA players still hoping for financial gesture from NBA

As president of the players’ union, what Chris Paul was most proud of was having offered health insurance to all players who played at least three years in the NBA.

Since 1965, all former basketball players in the league (provided they have played there for at least three years) also receive a pension. A system that does not, however, take into account former ABA players, whose league merged with the NBA in 1976, leaving a lot of former ABAers on the floor … and now without retirement.

For years, the Dropping Dimes Foundation, which has been trying to financially help these former ABA players, has been warning about this injustice, calling on the NBA to align its system.

Founder of the association, Scott Tarter is thus angry. A month ago, he saw Sam Smith die at the age of 79. This ABA champion with the Utah Stars was one of the outcasts, without retirement and without health insurance, from the ABA / NBA merger. He was not the least well off since after having worked at Ford, in Indianapolis, he had been able to recover a retirement pension. But that wasn’t enough to make ends meet and he had to apply for a loan from the Dropping Dimes Foundation to pay for his daughter’s funeral.

“It’s money he made. It’s not a gift. He won it”

Before dying, Sam Smith therefore posed on his hospital bed with an ABA balloon.

“He grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him” explains Scott Tarter, the author of the picture. “And he said to me, ‘I’ll do everything I can to get the NBA to help these guys. »

This staging can be uncomfortable but for Scott Tarter, it is the only way for the NBA to finally move on the fate of the 138 former ABA players who are waiting for a gesture from him. NBA spokesman Tim Frank said the league is in negotiations with the Dropping Dimes Foundation to find a solution.

For Scott Tarter, ABA players should be able to benefit from the same system as those in the NBA, with a monthly pension of $400 for each season played. In total, this would cost a maximum of $35 million per year, according to calculations by the Dropping Dimes Foundation, or one-third of the amount of fines collected by the NBA from players, which it then distributes to various charities.

For Sam Smith, it would have offered him a monthly pension of $2,000, which would have changed everything.

“It broke my heart to see what a big fan he was of the NBA and the players. He had no grudges and didn’t blame them. He died without any recognition, without any respect, without any pension… It is money that he earned. It’s not a gift. He won it” conclut Scott Tarter.